Different folks make different strokes

Kelly Schuilenberg, an Art and Design Foundations student, poses in front of her paddles. The paddles are being auctioned off at their art exhibition, Different Strokes. This is the first year the students have decided to use their art show as a fundraiser for their own program.

By Shelby Wye

This week, Loyalist College’s Art and Design Foundation students have taken part in curating their first art show, titled ‘Different Strokes’.

The show features talent from the Quinte Arts Council and the students themselves. The gallery is held in the Link Lounge at Loyalist College, and runs until December 11 at noon. More than 100 people came to the opening night.

The students, for the first time, have decided to use their first art show as a fundraiser for their program. The program purchased canoe paddles, which each student has personally decorated in a show of their various artistic personas. They are available for a silent auction, starting at $50. Already, they have raised $700 and still have more paddles to sell.

The students worked in teams: a documentation team, an installation team, a curating team and a design team. “It was hard to work together as a group at first, we artists are used to working solo, but I think it came together great,” said Kelly Schuilenberg, one of the Art and Design Foundation students.
Schuilenberg is one of the students who was part of the ‘documentation’ team. Camera-in-hand, she was one of the several students who were in charge of recording the process from beginning to end.

“Most of the documentation is going towards promoting the program, but it’s also for the media here, giving them the information to put artwork out there, instead of just around the school,” said Schuilenberg.

The artists that graduate from this program tend to branch out in multiple ways, according to the head of the program, Robert Kranendonk. Kranendonk says that many students return to Loyalist College after graduating from Art and Design foundations, so they can specialize in their interests.

“It packages four years of information into one year. The program is a good introduction into a lot of different fields in art and design,” said Daniel McKeown, a student currently part of the art and design program.  Their one year program covers a broad knowledge, from fine arts including painting and drawing to applied arts, which are architectural design, sculptures and graphic design.

“And that’s just in the first semester,” said McKeown.

“It gives students who don’t know what they want to do to get a taste of everything, and gives those who do know what they want to do a varied portfolio,” said Kranendonk.

Next semester, on April 19th, the students will host their final exhibition. This will included both a juried and non-competitive portion, and will include artwork from artists across the county.

“Next year, our exhibitions are solely student run,” said Schuilenberg, “It’s rough because you’ve got to step out of your comfort zone, but that’s part of the business of being an artist.”